ABSTRACT
Register-based censuses were pioneered by the Nordic countries that have strong traditions of local government. However, more and more countries are embarking on this endeavor. Despite its centralist tradition of state administration, Spain is one of these countries. How was the transition to a register-based census achieved in Spain and what are its implications? Up until 2001, censuses were needed to correct the errors accumulated in population registers throughout each decade in order to precisely count how many inhabitants were residing in the country as a whole, as well as in each municipality. This has always been an important issue for city mayors because municipal budgets greatly depend on the size of the population. Since 2001, thanks to the technological improvement of IT services operating at the local level, municipalities in charge of registering citizens were finally able to register (and de-register) residents in a coordinated fashion. At the same time, Spanish citizens and foreign residents benefit from registering by becoming entitled to local public services. Thus, municipal population registers have become the most reliable source of population numbers and the census is no longer needed to make significant corrections. This chapter describes and discusses the main challenges and controversies provoked by the recent transition from a traditional to a register-based census, as well as the potential long-term consequences.
